


Trick Or Treating With the Sharpes

by fvandomtrvsh, WardenRoot



Series: This Is What Cool Aunts Look Like [4]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Everyone is a dork, F/F, Fluff, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-08-14 09:09:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16489730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fvandomtrvsh/pseuds/fvandomtrvsh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WardenRoot/pseuds/WardenRoot
Summary: It's Halloween and Riley goes missing after school. After they get her back safe she asks Sara to go trick or treating with them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy (late) Halloween! Hope you guys enjoy this installment in this AU!

“Is Riley with you? She didn’t come home after school and she’s not answering her phone. She should have been home a couple hours ago.” Ava’s pen stops mid sentence at her sister’s words.

“Riley’s missing?” Ava can feel the air leave her lungs as her brain processes the words.

“Yes,” her sister says, the word barely a whisper, audible tears in her voice. Ava’s pen drops to her desk, and she’s on her feet in seconds, coat halfway on.

“Are you at the house? I’ll be right there.” There’s a confirmation at the other end of the phone.

Ava’s not sure quite how she got there, just knows she offered Gary a one sentence explanation on why she was leaving early, and now she’s in her car outside her sister’s house.

She finds her sister crying on the couch. She sits down next to her, putting one arm around her, and fishes out her phone with the other.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll find her,” she says, focusing on comforting her sister instead of her own rising panic. “Did she have any plans at all after school?”

“She was going to help me cook dinner.”

“Did you call the school? Or any of her friends?” Ella shakes her head.

“God, I didn’t think, I’m just so worried about her,” Ella sobs.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Ava reassures her, one hand running through Ella’s hair as she dials the school. The school can’t tell her anything, and Ava tries to keep her panic at bay as she starts going through a list of anyone Riley could have gone home with. Halfway through calling people she gets a text from Sara. She doesn’t read the text, just sends Sara one back saying that she can’t talk because Riley didn’t come home. Less than half a minute later Sara sends her another text.

 _“Fuck, want me to come over?”_ Ava considers turning the offer down, but after Sara’s presented the option she finds there’s nothing she wants more.

_“Yes. I’m at Ella’s.”_

 

It doesn’t take long for Sara to arrive at Ella’s house. She’s never been there before, mostly just seeing Riley and occasionally Ella at Ava’s apartment, but Ava had texted detailed instructions so the place wasn’t hard to find. Ava greets her at the door. Sara takes one look at her girlfriend’s worried face and pulls her into a hug before she’s even closed the front door. For a second Ava freezes and Sara imagines Ava trying to stay put together, for Ella and for herself, but that just makes Sara tighten her arms around Ava until Ava’s arms wrap around her middle and Ava buries her head in Sara’s neck. Sara uses her foot to push the front door closed. Ava allows herself to be held for a few seconds, before she pulls back, tries to put on a put together facade but Sara notices the way her lip quivers, and the slight panic hiding in her eyes.

“Thank you for coming,” Ava says with a sad smile.

“Of course.” Sara offers what she hopes is a reassuring smile to Ava as she shrugs off her coat. “I called my dad, sent him a picture of her, he sent it to the whole department.” Gratefulness and a hint of relief passes through Ava’s eyes. Sara puts a hand on either side of Ava’s face, thumb stroking her cheek, and holds her gaze. “We’ll find her.” Ava nods, leans down to press a quick kiss to Sara’s lips, then takes a deep breath and turns around, grabs Sara’s hand in hers and leads her into the living room, where Ella gives Sara a halfhearted smile from the couch.

 

Sara almost jumps when her phone starts vibrating in her pocket, fishes it out with record speed. She barely registers the ‘Dad’ written on the screen before she answers.

“Any news?” she asks, skipping any pleasantries.

“Sara?” asks a voice much too light to be her dad.

“Riley,” she breathes. The moment the name leaves her lips, both Ava and Ella’s heads turn to her.

“I’m riding in a police car!” comes the girl’s voice, far too cheery.

“That’s great kid,” Sara says, unsure of quite how to respond. “I’m gonna put your mom on the phone, okay?”

Riley gives an enthusiastic reply and Sara hands the phone over to Ella, taking over where Ella had been cooking. Ava had thought it would do Ella some good to start dinner, to try and worry a little less. Ella worries her lip as she accepts the phone, eyes watering with unshed tears. She leaves the room and Ava makes her way over to Sara, wraps her arms around Sara’s waist and rests her head on Sara’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” she whispers, hint of tiredness in her voice, before she places a soft kiss on Sara’s cheek.

 

The minutes it takes for Quentin and Riley to arrive feel like hours for everyone in the house. The moment Sara’s dad’s police cruiser pulls up in the driveway Ella is out the door, Sara and Ava following right behind her. The car has barely stopped when the door opens and out comes Riley’s small body, straight into her mother’s waiting arms. Relief washes through Sara at the physical evidence that Riley is indeed okay. Ava goes to join them as Sara goes to talk to her dad, who’s standing right next to the door to the driver’s seat.

“Thanks dad,” she says and pulls him into a hug.

“Of course,” he says and pats her back. “I found her on a bench in the middle of town, eating chocolate. Brought back memories of when you were her age.” They both chuckle as they pull out of the hug. Ella approaches them and Quentin looks slightly confused as he takes her in, before his eyes land on Ava just behind her and he shakes her head.

“Thank you, so much,” Ella says, reaching her hand out in front of her to shake Quentin’s, her other hand firmly on Riley’s shoulder.

Quentin nods, then gives Sara one last pat on her shoulder before turning to open the car door. “I gotta get back out there, one of the busiest days of the year and all. You girls stay safe.”

“Your dad is so cool!” Riley says, turning to Sara as they watch Quentin drive away. “Riding in a police car was so much fun!”

“You’re just lucky he found you,” Ava says, lifting Riley up into her arms. “What were you thinking, ignoring the school bus to go buy candy?” Riley looks sheepish for a second, before wrapping her arms around Ava’s neck and burying her head in her shoulder.

“They had this chocolate they _only_ sell on Halloween, I didn’t wanna miss it!” She looks from Ava to her mom, something akin to guilt on her face, before her eyes land on Sara and she’s back to her usual, cheery self.

“Sara! Are you staying for dinner?” she asks, before throwing another question at her before she can answer, even more excited. “Are you going trick or treating with us?”

Sara hesitates, suddenly unsure as she looks between Ava and Ella. “If it’s okay with your mom and aunt.”

Ava smiles at Sara, before she frowns and turns to Riley. “Are you sure you’re going trick or treating after what you did?” Panic rises in Riley’s eyes as she looks between her aunt and mom.

“It’s _H_ _alloween_ ,” she says, eyes pleading. Sara doesn’t think anyone’s been able to say no to those eyes and is unsurprised when Ella sighs and tells her she’ll be grounded starting tomorrow, but will be allowed to go trick or treating tonight. Riley beams as Ava puts her down, telling her to get cleaned up before dinner.

When everyone starts moving back into the house Sara takes Ava’s hand and pulls on it to make her stop. Ava turns to her with a questioning look.

“I’ve got a question,” she says as she tugs on Ava’s hand again to make her come closer.

“Okay?”

“I’ve been thinking, we've been dating for a few months, I’ve met your sister and niece-“

“We met because of Riley and then you schemed with Ella behind my back after our first attempt at a date,” Ava interrupts with a raised eyebrow.

“Not the point. The point is, I’ve met them. And you’ve met my parents and sister. So, I was thinking that maybe if you don’t have any plans after going trick or treating, if it might be time for you to meet my friends? Ray and Nate are hosting the annual Halloween party and they all wanna meet you, and I get that it’s really last minute and you don’t have to come with-“ Ava interrupts Sara’s rambling with a kiss.

“No plans,” she says with a small smile when she pulls back.

“So you’ll come?” Sara asks, tone hopeful.

“Yeah,” Ava nods. There’s another kiss, before Riley comes running through the still open door.

“Mom said to tell you that dinner’s ready. Stop kissing and come inside!” The two reluctantly pull apart and follow Riley inside.

“Why don’t you tell Sara about your costume?” Ella asks Riley when they’re all seated.

“I’m going to be a Valkyrie!” Riley says, voice filled with excitement.

“Oh really?” Riley nods, a big grin on her face.

“And mommy and auntie are gonna be vikings!”

“Oh really?” Sara repeats, this time looking at Ava, one eyebrow raised. She frowns, she hadn’t thought about a costume when Riley asked her to go trick or treating, hadn’t thought about the fact that anyone but Riley would be wearing one. “You guys are dressing up?”

“Those two won’t accept anything else,” Ava groans as she motions to Ella and Riley.

“Ava likes to pretend she hates it but we know she loves it.” Ava looks offended at her sister’s words.

“Were it not for how much I love you two, I’d stay far away from all of this.”

Sara giggles, but then another thought crosses her mind. “I didn’t exactly bring a costume earlier.”

She’s no more than uttered the words when Ella starts speaking. “We can’t have one of our group not wearing a costume! I made an extra one in case we’d need a backup, with a little tweaking it should fit you just fine.”

“You don’t have to stress for me, I have a costume at home that I’m supposed to use at a party tonight, I can swing by after dinner and be back before we have to go.”

“It’s no trouble!”

“Trust me, you’re better off just agreeing with this one when it comes to dressing up. She loves making costumes.”

“Everyone needs a hobby,” Ella shrugs.

“If you’re sure it’s not any trouble.”

“Can I come to the party?” All eyes in the room turn to Riley, who in turn is looking at Sara with excited eyes.

“Absolutely not, it’s not a children’s party and you’re still grounded,” Ava says, pointing her fork at Riley. Riley sighs and looks defeated down at her plate. Sara keeps finding herself amazed at how Riley always seems to obey her aunt just as much as her mother.

After dinner Ella leads them into her sewing room, which has the freshly made costumes all laid out. Sara’s eyes widen when she lays eyes on them, she knows that Ella likes sewing but she hadn’t realized exactly how good she is at it.

“You made these?” she asks, voice full of wonder as she lightly runs her hand over them. Ella nods, proud smile on her face.

“This one will be yours,” she says, pointing to one of the costumes. “Ava why don’t you help her put it on while I get things ready?”

Ava nods and leads Sara into a room not too far away. It’s a bedroom, and judging by the familiar sheets and decor it’s Ava’s room for when she stays over.

“Strip,” Ava says when the door shuts behind her.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to get your treat until after you go trick or treating,” Sara says, wiggling her eyebrows. Ava’s cheeks grow a pleasant red.

“I didn’t mean it like that, just, you have to, you can’t put it on on top of your clothes.”

“You’re cute,” Sara says, stepping closer to Ava and kissing her briefly.

“You’re a jerk,” Ava says when Sara pulls back. Sara giggles, then sighs before she starts removing her clothes, maybe just a tad more sensually than she strictly has to.

Putting the costume on takes more time than Sara imagined it would. She hadn’t realized why exactly she needed Ava’s help to put it on until Ava parted all the pieces and Sara saw how intricate it truly is. When they’re finally done they go back to the sewing room, and Ella wastes no time manhandling Sara into the position she wants her so she can start putting pins in the costume and planning how she needs to change it.

When they’re done and Sara’s in her normal clothes again, her and Riley are ushered out of the room, so as to not distract Ella and Ava from the work they have to do, they have a limited amount of time after all. On the way out Riley starts talking excitedly about the different costumes she’s had over the years.

“Sweetie, why don’t you show Sara the photo album?” Ella calls before she goes to work. Riley’s eyes light up as she orders Sara to sit down - sounding much like her aunt as she does so - and sprints to a drawer to find the album.

When she joins Sara on the couch she sits as close to Sara as she can and puts the album in the middle of them, so half of it is resting on Sara’s thigh and the other half on Riley’s. Sara puts an arm on the back of the couch to accommodate her, still not fully used to how comfortable Riley is around her. Riley starts going into detailed explanations about the costumes, for the ones she remembers at least, the ones she was too small to remember she just barely mentions. The pictures are all captioned with the costumes and how old Riley was at the time. There’s one of Ava and Riley as knights and Ella as a queen, another with Ava as Legolas, Ella as Gandalf, and Riley as Frodo. One picture in particular catches Sara’s attention; Riley was dressed as Wonder Woman, and Ella was dressed as Supergirl. The part that catches her attention though is Ava dressed up as Hawkgirl, the top just covering her chest, leaving her arms and stomach bare.

“Your costume is finished, Ella just needs you to try it,” Ava says, coming up behind them. Sara looks at her briefly before her eyes travel back to the album.

“Please tell me you still have this,” she says as she shamelessly stares at Ava’s visible abs in the picture. Ava leans down to pinpoint what Sara’s referencing and her cheeks grow red as she does so.

“I’m sure Ella’s got it somewhere,” she says, almost too low to hear. Sara licks her lips, gears in her head already turning at finding an occasion to have Ava wear that particular costume. She lets the thought go for now as Ella calls impatiently from the sewing room and Sara pushes the album all the way over on Riley’s lap so she can get out of the couch.

The costume fits Sara perfectly and it doesn’t take long before everyone has to get ready to go trick or treating. Sara, already having been dressed, and Riley, who’s costume is the easiest to put on, get ready first. Ella braids Riley’s hair and Ava braids Sara’s, which is another thing Sara hadn’t expected but she’s not going to complain about her girlfriend’s hands working on her hair. When they’re done they’re ushered out of the room so Ella and Ava can get ready. Riley gets them a pair of plastic swords while they wait. Riley sighs impatiently as she intently watches the door hiding her mother and aunt.

“We could’ve conquered a village by now,” Sara says jokingly.

“Are you good enough with a sword to conquer one alone?”

“Wanna see?” Sara raises an eyebrow at Riley and Riley wastes no time drawing her sword from her belt.

Sara draws her own sword, it’s not too long, clearly meant for a child, but Sara’s not a stranger to playing with toy swords so she’s not too bothered by the size. She presses the tip to Riley’s sword and waits for her to make the first move. Riley looks intently at her before she tries to hit Sara’s sword. Sara pushes back but only with enough strength to keep Riley from knocking her sword away. Their swords part and meet again a little higher. Riley pulls back and tries to hit Sara lower but Sara quickly dodges the blow, then uses her momentum to climb on the edge of a nearby chair, then jumps up above Riley, landing on the other side of the girl. Riley watches in awe, before she once again brings her sword back up. They continue the sword fighting for a while, before Sara lets Riley hit her in the leg. She drops to the floor with feigned pain. Riley brings her sword up to Sara’s neck, and Sara drops her sword to bring her arms up above her head.

“You win. I surrender.”

Riley smiles in triumph and lowers her sword. The moment she drops her guard Sara quickly lunges forward, trapping Riley in her arms. She turns her around so she faces away from Sara and pulls her close. When she’s sufficiently trapped Sara starts tickling her, the ten year old immediately erupting into laughter.

“You’re cheating! You surrendered!” Riley manages to say between her laughter.

“I’m a viking, I don’t play fair. I’ll stop if you say I’m good enough to conquer a village.”

“You’re good enough! You’re good enough!” Sara releases her hold on the girl, pulls her into a hug instead as Riley gets control of her breathing after all the laughing. Sara sighs and looks up to find Ava and Ella watching them with fond smiles.

“You guys ready?” she asks as she fully releases her hold on Riley and gets up from the floor, retrieving her sword as she does so.

Ava nods as Sara approaches her and Sara lets her eyes roam over Ava, for the first time seeing her in her viking costume.

“I look ridiculous,” she says when she notices Sara’s stare.

“Nah, you look good,” Sara says, appreciative eyes still looking Ava over. Ava smiles softly and Sara presses a kiss to her cheek, before Riley tells them it’s time to go.

Before they leave Ella insists they take a group photo. Sara offers to take it, assuming Ella wants a photo of the three of them for the album, but is quickly told that if she’s going trick or treating with them, there’s no way she’s not going to be in the photo. Ella ushers everyone into a good position, then places the camera on a pile of books on a drawer that’s just the right height to get the angle she wants. She puts it on a timer and rushes back to them, getting into position behind Riley and next to her sister with a few seconds to spare. She checks to see that she’s happy with the picture before they leave the house.

The trick or treating, Sara finds, isn’t that much worse as an adult than it is a child. She may not be running around to get candy but Riley’s enthusiasm at that is enough for all of them, but just looking at all the costumes, decorated houses, and children looking in awe at their costumes is fun its own right, not to mention the nostalgia it brings back from when she and Laurel used to do it as kids. She’s also not complaining about the fact that this time she gets to hold the hand of a cute girl while walking around.

Ella and Ava are, understandably, watching Riley very closely. They don’t follow her up the driveways but they make sure to keep her in their line of sight. Sara and Ava are in the middle of a random conversation when Ava suddenly stops in her tracks, eyes going wide.

“Where’s Riley?”

“She was right…” Sara says, stopping when she looks to the house Riley just went to, Riley nowhere to be found. Ava turns panicked eyes to Sara, and at the sight Sara grips her hand more tightly, pulls her closer as she takes a step towards the house that Ella’s practically running towards. They all let out a breath of relief when the girl comes into view from around the house.

“You guys okay?” Riley asks when they’re all gathered.

“We couldn’t see you,” Ella says, crouching in front of Riley to make sure she’s okay.

“The door was around the back of the house,” she says, her voice enthusiastic again as she lifts up her basket. “Look what I got!”

“Let us know next time, okay, pumpkin?” Riley nods, then takes off towards the next house.

A few houses later they get stopped by a boy and a girl, no more than six years old.

“Are you real vikings?” they ask, staring at them in wonder.

Sara crouches down next to them and puts a finger in front of her lips. When she speaks her voice is low. “We are, but it’s a secret, so you can’t tell anyone, okay?” The kids nod, their eyes wide.

“Can you guys fight?”

“What kind of vikings would we be if we couldn’t fight, right Aves?”

“Right,” Ava says, a little awkwardly.

“Can you show us?”

“Can we?” Sara says, eyes wide, looking at Ava. She can see Ava wanting to protest and stands up, leaning close to Ava. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.” Ava still looks like she wants to protest, but after a _please_ coupled with a quick kiss to her cheek she relents. The kids jump in excitement as Sara drags Ava a few feet away from them and draws her toy sword.

“This has got to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done,” Ava says, low enough that her voice doesn’t carry over to the children.

“Live a little,” Sara says with a smirk, right before lunging at Ava.

Ava easily meets Sara’s sword with her own, and soon enough they’re running around the street trying to hit each other. More children gather around them to watch, Riley included as she gets back from her latest house. Minutes fly by until Sara makes a mistake and suddenly Ava’s sword is at her throat. Ava arches an eyebrow at her, a small, amused smile playing at her lips. Sara drops her sword and puts her hands above her head.

“You got me,” she says, feigned disappointment in her voice. The moment Ava drops her guard, however, she lunges for her sword arm, easily pulling the sword out of Ava’s hand. She steps behind Ava in the same motion and presses the sword to her throat. “You’re as easy as your niece, Sharpe,” she whispers in Ava’s ear, before pressing a quick kiss right underneath it, then letting Ava go. Ava rolls her eyes as she reclaims her sword. The children gathered around them start clapping and jumping, before they all scatter to new houses now that the show is over.

“It’s okay, auntie Ava. You fought bravely, I’ll take you to Valhalla,” Riley says as she joins them.

“Thank you, Riles,” Ava says, putting a hand around Riley’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t need it if Sara hadn’t cheated, though,” Ava says, casting an accusing look at Sara. Riley nods seriously.

“She did it when we fought too.”

“You’re the ones who fell for it,” Sara shrugs.

“You’re all children,” Ella joins in, rolling her eyes fondly. “We should start heading back so you can eat some of the candy you’ve gathered, it’s almost bedtime.” Riley’s basket is almost full so she doesn’t protest, seems almost excited to get back to the house.

Back at the house they watch a short Halloween movie, Riley eating whatever candy her mother allows before she’s told to save the rest. Riley protests when she’s told she has to go to bed when the movie finishes, but she almost falls asleep under it and when it finally ends she willingly goes to get ready. Sara and Ava stay a little while longer, chatting with Ella, before they leave for the party.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're very sorry for the long wait on this, there is no excuse other than sometimes the brainspace refuses to work 😅  
> We hope y'all enjoy this chapter and that it was worth the wait!

It’s not until they’re in front of Nate and Ray’s ridiculously big house that Ava really starts feeling the anxiety brewing in her stomach. She’s about to meet Sara’s friends. Dressed like a Viking. They’re all going to be judging her to see if she’s good enough for their friend. She subconsciously tightens her grip on Sara’s hand. Sara squeezes back. It helps a little, to settle her anxiety, but she still mostly feels like panicking.

When they reach the door Sara ignores the doorbell and goes straight for the handle. Ava hears a sigh as the door is easily pulled open.

“I keep telling them to lock the damn door, especially when they’re having a party. God knows neither of them would notice someone robbing them blind, or worse.” Sara’s familiarity with the house and frustration with their hosts somehow serves to make Ava calmer.

She feels a pang of disappointment as Sara lets go of her hand to lock the door behind them. Her disappointment, however, quickly disappears when an arm wraps around her waist, her girlfriend leaning into her side as she leads her out of the entrance and towards the living room. Ava wraps her arm around her shoulders, pulling her even closer.

“Sara’s here!” someone dressed in a costume Ava recognizes from Star Wars, which she only knows due to Riley and Gary forcing her to watch. He’s wearing a beige shirt with a black vest and dark blue pants.

“Nate!” Sara says, smiling at the man. He walks over to them and gives Sara a hug, forcing Ava to let go of her hold on her.

Another man, taller than the first one — Nate — and dressed as a character from the same movie walks up to her, a bright smile on his face.

“Hey. You must be Ava, Sara’s told us all about you! I’m Ray.” He holds out his hand and Ava tentatively shakes it.

Ava doesn’t get out much more than a ‘hello’ in response before a dark haired woman in shiny grey armor pulls him away, only sparing Ava a glance in the process. Sara’s hand grabs hers as she’s properly introduced to Nate. After, Sara pulls them into the kitchen to get drinks. When they arrive, a man dressed as what can only be an ogre is raiding the fridge. He only gives them a grunt to acknowledge them as they walk past. Sara identifies him as Mick.

“You okay?” Sara asks quietly as she hands Ava her drink.

Ava can only manage a nod before two new people walk into the room. One of them is wearing all black save for a giant brown donut that covers her entire torso. The other is wearing a remarkable Lara Croft costume that almost has Ava choking on her drink. She hears a ‘whoa’ escape Sara’s lips.

“Sara! You made it!” the woman in the Lara Croft costume says, walking up to them with the donut wearer in tow.

“Amaya! What did Zari have to do to convince you to wear  _ that _ ?”

“It was the only way to make her wear an actual costume instead of her sweater filled with tiny pictures of donuts.”

“It’s a good sweater! Now can we talk about how Sara and her girlfriend are dressed in matching outfits?”

Ava’s anxiety returns at the comment about their costumes, though it’s slightly dimmed by the rush she feels at being called Sara’s girlfriend.

“You’re just jealous of our awesome costumes,” Sara says smugly while wrapping an arm around Ava’s middle.

“I think it’s sweet,” Amaya says, giving Ava a smile.

“Hey, I thought I heard you arrive,” a new voice says behind them. Ava turns around to see a young man dressed as a cowboy walk towards them.

“Hey, little brother,” Sara says, once more letting go of Ava so she can hug him. Ava tries very hard not to complain.

“Aren’t you gonna introduce us to your girlfriend?” he asks as they pull apart.

“Right, everyone, this is Ava. Ava, this is almost everyone.” Sara points to everyone and lists their names, then points to the living room and quickly says the name of the three people Ava had met when they first arrived. Ava had already heard most their names but she appreciates the refresher.

Sara directs Ava over to the couch while she grabs them something to eat. If Ava is being honest, she doesn’t want to leave Sara’s side, anxiety getting the better of her in a strange house surrounded by strangers. But, she wants to make a good impression on Sara’s friends, and so she lets herself be guided to one of the couches by Amaya, with Ray joining them once there.

“So,” Ray starts, angling himself towards Ava, “what are your intentions with Sara?”

Ava chokes on her drink for the second time that evening. She half wonders if he’s joking, but his expression is completely serious, and when Ava glances at Amaya, she finds hers the same.

“Uh, I, I want to make her happy?” The words come out as a question, but they’re completely true — making Sara smile is one of her favorite things to do.

“You don’t sound fully sure,” Nate says, sliding onto the table in front of her. “We care about Sara a lot, and we don’t want to see her hurt.”

“I am sure!” Ava says, panic starting to rise inside of her. “I could never hurt her.”

“Seriously?” Sara exclaims, and her familiar voice immediately sets Ava at ease. “I leave her alone for two minutes and you decide to attack her?” Sara squeezes herself in between Nate and Amaya so she can fall down on Ava’s lap.

“Sorry, Sara,” Ray and Amaya mumble.

“Best friend duties,” Nate shrugs at the same time, reaching over to grab something off of the plate in Sara’s hands. Sara slaps his hand away before he gets close.

“They’re just joking,” Sara reassures Ava, offering her a smile.

“No, we’re not,” Zari pipes up, joining Nate on the table, resting a foot on Amaya’s legs. Sara groans and rolls her eyes. “So, Ava, what do you do?”

“You already know what she does,” Sara says, narrowing her eyes on Zari.

“Any exes we should know about?” Nate asks.

“Any other dark secrets?” Zari asks right after.

Ava’s mouth falls open, feeling like she should answer something but not knowing how to keep up with their questions. Sara gently takes her hand, intertwining their fingers as she brings them up to her own heart.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Sara tells her friends sternly. “I didn’t bring Ava so you all could spend the entire evening interrogating her.” Nate opens his mouth to say something but Sara starts speaking again before he gets the chance. “You’re welcome to get to know her better, but if anyone of you scares her off I will kick all of your asses.”

Nate narrows his eyes, as if he wants to challenge his friend’s order, but Ray pulls him away before he can, and Amaya does the same with Zari. Once they’re alone, Sara’s face softens as she turns her sparkling eyes on Ava.

“I’m sorry, I know they can be a lot, but they’re a loveable bunch once you get to know them,” she says, running her fingers along the side of Ava’s face. 

“They seem nice,” Ava says, half scrunching up her face. She immediately feels more at ease with just Sara so close. “They’re protective of you, I can’t fault them for that.” Sara smiles at her then kisses her gently, and Ava melts into her.

 

They sit by themselves for a little while. Occasionally someone comes over and talks with them, and it’s much less overwhelming, Ava finds, than all of them ganging up on her. Ava finds herself relaxing more and more as she observes Sara’s friends. Until, after they’ve had a few drinks, Nate disturbes their relaxation, yelling at Sara from across the room.

“Hey, Sara, you’re fond of climbing things,” he calls from the corner he’s standing in with Mick and Jax. “I bet you you can’t scale the outside of the house in less than a minute.”

Sara snorts. “I can climb it faster than you, Heywood.”

“Wanna bet?”

“You’re on.” Sara slides off of Ava’s lap, and for a moment Ava’s just frozen, before she jumps off of the couch after her.

“You can’t be serious, you’re not even going to ask what brought this on?” Ava asks, following her girlfriend.

Sara stops for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face, before she let’s out a “Nope,” and continues on.

Ava sighs, following Sara and Nate outside, together with everyone else. Sara takes off the top half of her costume, leaving her in just the lower half and a tank top. Ava’s torn between being worried about the cold outside, and unabashedly staring at her girlfriend’s now revealed arms.

“Sara are you sure about this?”

“Yup.” Sara makes to get ready to climb, but turns around before she’s taken more than two steps. She fishes her phone out of her pocket and hands it over to Ava. “Film me kicking this nerd’s ass,” she says smugly, before she joins Nate near the house’s wall.

“Hey! I heard that!” Nate says indignantly, to which Sara responds with a smile.

Ava sighs as she gets the phone’s camera ready. She spots Amaya with a first aid kit ready and is thankful that Sara has at least one responsible friend.

“I am  _ not _ cheering for your boyfriend,” she hears Nora mutter to Ray.

“I hope you’re ready to get your ass beat, Lance,” Nate says, more smugly than Ava thinks he should be. Granted she doesn’t know Sara’s friends that well, but she’s seen what Sara can do with her body, and despite Ava being worried, she knows, logically, that Sara can scale the building easily.

As they start climbing, Ava’s worry is momentarily set aside as all she can focus on is Sara’s arms in the low light coming from the house’s many windows. Nate almost slips just a few inches off the ground, but Ava just barely registers it as she watches Sara smoothly climb up the wall. She reaches the top window before Nate’s even made it one floor. Sara fully opens the window there, that someone had opened before the competition started, and sits down on the ledge, a smug smile on her lips as she looks down on them.

“Having some trouble there, Nate?” she asks, leaning down to look at him. Nate only huffs in reply as he starts climbing back down the wall. 

Ava’s worry has pretty much evaporated, her girlfriend safe in the window, that she will presumably enter so she can walk back down to the first floor safely. That’s what Ava thinks. She feels her blood run cold as Sara slides off the ledge, towards the rest of the group, not towards the safety of the room inside. It feels like it takes forever for Sara to fall through the air. Just before she hits the ground, her hands latch onto a metal rod sticking out from the house. Sara swings around it before letting herself fall the rest of the way to the ground, landing gracefully on her feet. Ava’s next to her in seconds, phone forgotten in her pocket as she runs her hands over Sara’s body, making sure she’s okay.

“How cool was that?” Sara asks, a stupidly brilliant smile on her lips.

“I think you gave your girlfriend a heart attack,” Zari snickers.

“You’re an idiot,” Ava whispers, leaning her forehead against Sara’s, hands still running over her body. “I was so worried.”

“Sorry,” Sara says sheepishly, snaking her arms around Ava’s waist. “I forgot you haven’t really seen me do that a lot, they’re all used to it.”

“This is usual when you’re with your friends?” Ava asks, her worry returning.

“Kinda? Yeah, but I know what I’m doing! I’ve done this tons of times, and I know this house better than my own pocket. But I’m sorry I made you worry.” Sara’s sparkly blue eyes make Ava’s worry melt away as she finds herself unable to resist closing the distance between their lips.

“Oh, did you get the video?” Sara asks as she pulls back, her previous guilt forgotten. Ava sighs as she finds the phone and hands it over to Sara. “This is awesome,” Sara says, playing back the video. “Riley’s going to love it!”

Ava sighs, resigning herself to a life of worry, as everyone moves back inside, the show over.

 

A little while later, Ava and Sara are back on the couch, the rest of the friend group scattered around the house. Ava is pretty sure she saw Ray comforting Nate over losing to Sara, with Nora rolling her eyes at them.

Ava is, however, currently much more interested in the person on her lap than anyone else. Sara’s hands are wrapped around Ava’s neck as she kisses her, and she’s still only wearing a tank top, not having bothered to put on the rest of her costume again. Not that Ava’s complaining as she runs her hands along Sara’s muscular upper arms.

Both their pockets vibrate, and Ava groans as Sara’s lips leave hers. Ava pulls her back in, but their pockets vibrate again and Sara pulls back once more, hand moving to wrestle the phone out of her costume.

“Leave it,” Ava complains, trying to grab the phone from Sara’s hands.

“It’s from Ella!” Sara says, evading Ava’s hand. “She sent something to our group chat.”

Ava sighs and reaches for her own phone, begrudgingly accepting that she won’t get any more kisses until she’s looked at the message. She forgets her annoyance the moment she opens the chat and is met with a picture of her niece passed out on the couch, hugging her Halloween bounty to her chest, evidently having convinced her mom to stay up after Ava and Sara left. Under the picture is a long message that boils down to Ella thanking them, Sara especially, for helping with Riley. Ava can tell her twin has had a couple of glasses of wine, but she knows the sentiment is genuine.

When she looks up at Sara again, Sara has a soft smile as she looks down at her phone.

“You were amazing today,” Ava says, bringing a hand up to Sara’s face. Sara turns her gaze on Ava and smiles almost bashfully. “Thank you, for being there for us when we didn’t know where Riley was, and for going trick or treating and wearing the costume. I don’t know what I would have done without you, and Riley had so much fun with you. I hope you know you’re never spending Halloween alone again,” Ava ends with a chuckle, her face filled with gratitude.

“I am pretty amazing,” Sara smirks, scratching the nape of Ava’s neck. She bites her lips as her face turns more serious. “I’m happy I could help. I don’t know what I would have done if Riley hadn’t… And I haven’t had that much fun on Halloween since I was a kid!” Sara presses a chaste kiss to Ava’s lips before she continues talking. “Thank  _ you _ for coming with me here,” she says, glancing around the room. “I know it was short notice, but the people in this house are my family, and I’ve been wanting you to meet them for a while.” Sara looks almost unsure as she stares into Ava’s eyes.

Ava is about to respond, but the couch dipping beside her throws her off. She groans internally as she notices Nate sitting next to her, Ray soon following on the other side with Nora on his lap.

“Movie time!” Nate announces, turning on the TV.

Sara appears unphased as she turns in Ava’s lap, leaning back against her in her arms. Zari is banished to a chair due to the sides of her donut costume sticking out around her, but she doesn’t seem to mind as Amaya flops down on her lap. Mick and Jax claim another couch as Nate puts on an Indiana Jones movie, with only some protests from the rest of the group. Ava sighs as she rests her head on Sara’s shoulder, tightening her grip around her waist. As Nate defends his choice of movie to the group, Ava smiles, already feeling a fondness growing inside her for Sara’s extended family.

**Author's Note:**

> As always you can find us on tumblr [@fvandomtrvsh](http://fvandomtrvsh.tumblr.com/) and [@wardenroot](http://wardenroot.tumblr.com/)


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